Piping Plovers

This week, the special events co-ordinator for the Edmonton Nature Club invited me along on their field trip to see Piping Plovers. I was very excited to go along because I had never seen Piping Plovers before and their status in Alberta is listed as endangered under the Wildlife Act (and has been since 1985).

Most of the birds were quite far away so my photos aren’t as clear as I would have liked. There were 10 adults and five chicks.

According to the Alberta Conservation Association’s 2010-2011 annual report, in 2010/11 the ACA carried out population inventories for Piping Plovers on 26 Alberta bodies of water and recorded 233 adults on 21 of these lakes. The ACA located 121 Plover nests, and put predator exclosures around 117 of these to help nest success.

So well done Prairie Birder – great shots even though you were at a distance. Great to see the protection is ongoing. We have the same here in Central Ontario: nests must be protected from predators by exclosures…terrific that you got to see these little birds with your own eyes, and share some of their story on your website and on Alberta Birds. You are a real activist for protection and help for birds – I’m impressed